captionEighty percent of miscarriages happen in the first trimester.sourceGetty

Miscarriages are common, and nobody is immune. An estimated 10% to 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. But, some experts think that the percentage is probably even higher since some miscarriages occur before someone even knows theyre pregnant.

You can have a miscarriage as soon as you become pregnant, says UCLA OB-GYN Leena S. Nathan, MD. Sometimes we see people who have a miscarriage very early on. We usually call that a chemical pregnancy because the pregnancy hormone hCG goes up, but we never actually see anything in the uterus.

While there is no foolproof way to prevent miscarriage, there are some lifestyle changes you can make before and during pregnancy to lower your risk.

Heres what you can do before getting pregnant to reduce your risk of miscarrying:

Heres what you can do during pregnancy to reduce your risk of miscarrying:

Its most common to miscarry in the first trimester, which is up to 13 weeks, says Nathan. In fact, about 80% of miscarriages happen within the first trimester. After this, your chance of miscarrying drops.

However, you can miscarry as late as 20 weeks. Beyond that, if the pregnancy isnt successful its no longer called a miscarriage, its a stillbirth.

There are plenty of reasons a miscarriage can happen, and unfortunately, some types of miscarriages simply cant be prevented.

Most times [the cause is] something genetic, which is unpreventable, meaning there is something wrong with the chromosomes and either the egg or the sperm that came together, Nathan says.

Other causes could be related to the mothers health. For instance, if the mother has a blood clotting issue, if the mother carries any sort of genetic mutations, health and lifestyle issues can cause miscarriages as well as smoking, diabetes, and obesity.

Then, theres always the possibility that you do everything right and still miscarry.

When I see a patient whos had a miscarriage, I reassure them that its nothing they did or didnt do because theres a lot of guilt that comes with having a miscarriage, but most of the time, its unpreventable, says Nathan.

Read this article:
You cannot prevent a miscarriage but there are steps you can take to reduce your risk - Business Insider

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